


GAC Often Cost Too Much

by Khellamendra



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 12:28:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16408517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khellamendra/pseuds/Khellamendra
Summary: The rebel Te-osh needs help smuggling important cargo and turns to the one crew that's good at this sort of thing. They're not overly excited about it or how they feel about the cargo once they find out what it is.





	GAC Often Cost Too Much

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a contest on the Voltron Amino. I didn't get to the point in the story I was originally going to stop because I ran out of time. It stands on it's own as is but I'll be continuing it after October is over when I have time again. As of writing this, I have a few other contest entries I need to finish. Cheers!

“I need a favor.” 

Rolo took a deep swig from the bottle, enjoying the burn of the liquid. He had been doing his best to keep his head down and not drag attention to himself. Even his normally flirty companion had yet to leave the table except to score a few free drinks for them. Despite picking a table in the back of this dive hadn’t apparently been enough. He didn’t know how these people did it. 

“We’re not joining your little group Te-osh.” he finally said, leaning back in his chair. Putting a hand behind his head, he gestured to their group with the bottle. “Actually takin’ a night off, for what that’s worth.” It wasn’t exactly a great idea to try and pilot a ship when you were trashed. He could do it, had done it in fact, but the repair cost had been enough that he promised himself he wouldn’t do it again. His dismissive attitude apparently wasn’t obvious enough as the feathered woman took over the empty chair, much to Nyma’s annoyance.

“I’m not here about that, not this time but the offer is open if you ever choose to take it.” She said evenly. Nyma rolled her eyes though Te-osh missed it, eyes focused on Rolo who was still just as uninterested. 

“So why are you here then?” Nyma scoffed at his question and crossed her arms. He shouldn’t be encouraging this but if there was one thing he knew about the rebel, it was that Te-osh was very focused. If they didn’t hear her out, she’d hang around or try again at the worst possible time. When she wanted something important then she got it. When she leaned in, he knew it had to be along those lines. 

“Very soon, I will need some...cargo moved.” 

There it was. “I don’t do live cargo that isn’t a bounty. Not since that Yalmor almost destroyed my cargo hold. The pay was not worth the clean up and the jerk tried to get out of paying. Didn’t appreciate having to wring it out of him.”

“I did.” Nyma said, snickering when he made a rude gesture at her. 

“This one should be much more behaved.” the rebel pushed. From the look on Nyma’s face, she obviously wanted him to say no. Taking another long drink, he sat the bottle heavily on the table. 

“Tell ya what. I want to see this ‘cargo’ first and if it doesn’t look like too much trouble, I’ll say yes.” Rolo ignored the obvious and loud sigh from Nyma. 

“You’ll say yes.” Te-osh said, standing up. “Stay in the Eluridan System. I’ll contact you when I’m ready.” She continued, dropping several GAC on the table before leaving without another word. Large fingers pulled the coins towards Nyma. 

“I don’t like this, something about it feels off.” She said, idly starting to count them. 

“I don’t either but after the Empire confiscated all our stuff, we could use the GAC.” He raised a brow as a smile finally came back to her face. 

“Looks like the rest of the rounds are on her.”Nyma said, flipping a coin his way. Holding it up, he grinned. 

“At least we know she’s good for it. Doesn’t mean I’m gonna say yes.” 

“Of course not. Any thing the rebels want is a bad idea and we’re already barely getting by as it is. You know that we got lucky with Prorok right? If those Voltron jerks hadn’t been so trusting, we would have been locked away, or worse.” She said, waving someone down for their next order. 

“If they had been a little more trusting we could have gotten away. They were pretty stupid.” Rolo offered with a shrug. “Either way all this business talk is killin’ my buzz.” He picked up the new bottle when it was sat down. “To the rebels, for their contribution to this round.” 

Nyma grabbed hers. “And to several more!” 

 

By the time the call actually came, they had forgotten about it. After dropping off a bounty at the closest outpost, they were all ready for some more downtime. Even Beezer looked ready or that could have been the new algorithms Rolo had installed a few quintant ago. As far as they were concerned, Beezer was a much a part of the crew as either of them. Not the best drinking buddy but great for flying their drunk butts around when necessary. Pushing the button, a familiar face popped up. “Yo Te-osh, I almost thought you might be dead. Congrats on another day.” 

“Meet me on Varaden. One varga.” 

Beezer gave a warning beep and Nyma frowned. “Varaden? That place is a dump and overrun with space pirates.” she said, sharing a look with Rolo. 

“One varga.” Te-osh repeated before cutting the communication. Taking his hat off, he ran a hand through his hair. 

“Rolo-”

“I know, I know.” He sighed. 

“You’re not serious. Varaden doesn’t even have good booze.” She argued, crossing her arms. He laughed wryly. “True. Still, you know how she is and something about this whole thing has my interest piqued. What would she possibly risk bringing to Varaden of all places unless it was super illegal? Job like that’s expensive too.” He said, rubbing two fingers together with a grin. 

“I suppose Beezer can keep the ship ready in case we have to make a break for it.” Nyma muttered, still not looking convinced but caving all the same. Rolo slipped the cap back on. 

“That’s my girl, let’s go.” 

 

Varaden was a damp and boggy world where it always seemed to be raining. Rolo thought he remembered hearing it use to be a more lush and sunny planet. At least until the Galra had gotten a hold of it and wiped out the natives. Space pirates had decided it was undesirable enough they could have it, which wasn’t a wrong assumption. The Galra had moved onto bigger prizes though some showed up now and then to slum it up. The weather always made his lower leg ache and the ground was unstable, filled with hidden sink holds just waiting to steal unsuspecting boots. 

Shaking the water from their hoods, Nyma grumbled at her pants. The cloaks were heavy enough to keep them dry but no matter how careful you were, the mud always found a way to come with you. The bar was an even bigger dive than their last stop, noisy with laughter and at least one fight that was going on. A few glances came their way but everyone seemed more interested in their own companions or egging on the fight. 

Nyma tapped him on the shoulder and pointed. There across the room he could see her, looking as calm and put together as she always did. It wasn’t until they got closer that Rolo realized she had something at her side. No on a second look it was actually someone, dressed in a brown cloak though he couldn’t make out any features with the hood up. Joining her, the person at her side was visibly startled and she put a had on their shoulder. “It’s okay, they are going to help.” Rolo was tempted to correct that they might help but bit his tongue. Even Nyma was silent on that front. “I need you to take him to these coordinates.” She said, inputting the information and sending it. They both pulled it up but it was Nyma who looked the most pleased at the GAC amount that came with it. 

“I think I’m starting to warm up to this job after all.” 

“Good. You’ll need to leave immediately.” Teo-osh stated, glancing around for the first time since the two of them had gotten there. 

“Leave? We just got here.” Nyma whined and the other woman shook her head. “It needs to be now.” she repeated firmly. Scowling, Nyma played with the ends of her hair. Rolo knew that signal, one of many they had when discretion was the most important. Glancing to the left, he saw them, almost obscured by the crowd, bounty hunters, empire ones at that. He knew they weren’t here for either of them but that didn’t make him feel any better, not when he had a feeling who they were here for. 

“Now you see why you have to leave now. There was only one before.” Te-osh’s voice cut through his thoughts. Rolo sighed. There were currently four and the more time that passed, the more that would surely show up. “Well no fun for us tonight. I hate exercise too.” he grumbled. “Hey you.” Rolo finally addressed their far to quiet guest. “Hope you can run.” 

The figure glanced up briefly, most of their face still hidden by the over sized cloak. “I-I can try.” The voice shook, sounding a lot younger than Rolo expected. This was not going to end well, he could already tell. 

“No try, do. Otherwise I’ll owe our friend here a refund and I hate giving back good GAC. Get ready.” Leaning back in the chair suddenly, he bumped right into a short Unlilu who had been painstakingly carrying way more glasses than was safe or practical. Immediately sitting himself back up, the small action had been enough to put the poor fellow off balance and tumbling right into the neighboring table that was already well on their way to being drunk. The rowdy songs died the minute the drinks came down, drenching half the party and leaving only one very obvious culprit who was face first on the floor. The Unilu looked up just as the large hand came down, trying in vain to cover himself. The blow never happened as one of his larger companions came to his defense and just like that the fight was on. 

“Now, go!” Rolo didn’t have to tell them twice, all of them jumping up at the same time and making a break for it just before the two large aliens fell on the table, still fighting one another as the rest of their respective crews joined in on the fun. Looking back, he saw their mystery guest lagging behind, the route he wanted to take blocked by the fight. 

With no other choice the boy had to go the other way, frantically looking for the woman he had come with. More patrons were starting to crowd into the space, drawn in by the new entertainment. Holding the cloak tightly around himself, he caught a glimpse of purple and gold moving away from everything else. With no other choice he followed them, dodging various creatures and appendages. Never had he been more happy to be out in the humid and wet air, welcoming the sound of heavy rain. He might have enjoyed it more if he wasn’t standing in the middle of the muddy courtyard, still looking for any sign of Te-osh. The sound of someone shouting drew his attention and he looked back to see an unfamiliar alien pointing at him. That was all he needed to start running as fast as he could. 

The consistent rain and mud weighted Rolo and Nyma down but they couldn’t afford to stop. A sharp cry caught his attention and they looked back just in time to watch the small figure fall. Swearing in his own tongue, Rolo stopped. He should have just kept going. This wasn’t worth the GAC, the clean up, or the stress. He was not a good guy and yet here he was running the opposite way of a nice warm and safe ship, free of drama. Long arms easily picked up the bundle that thrashed in his grip. The extra weight caused his leg to sink in the mud and he cursed again. “Stop it, it’s me you idiot.” Pulling with all his strength, he was glad the boy (because surely someone this small was not that old), couldn’t see because he wasn’t sure he was going to get himself free. Reaching for his blaster, a shot came from behind and caught the first guy square in the chest. Nyma put her arm around his waist, helping him pull his foot free in time for him to shoot another one. 

“The least this planet could have given me was a drink or five.” She grumbled before they started running and he managed a wry smile. 

“I don’t think even that’s enough to be worth this.” He retorted. Shooting another one, it was enough to trip the other two long enough for them to get around the corner and slip into a nearby crumbling archway. Pressed up against the wall, they both held their breath as the sound of shouting and footsteps passed by. It wasn’t until they had faded that either of them thought to breathe again. Nyma cautiously looked around, purple eyes peering through the heavy rain. After several ticks she shook her head. 

“A-are they gone?” The kid had hands wrapped around Rolo’s neck, face pressed to a shoulder. Rolo would feel bad for the kid if it wasn’t his fault this was happening. 

“For the time being but they’ll circle back around eventually. If we don’t make a move soon, they’ll find our ship and stake it out.” Nyma said, pushing buttons on her communicator. 

“Oh. I..um...I can walk now if you want.” 

“No offense but you’ll just slow us down. I think I’ll just carry you. Not like you’re heavy or anything.” Rolo stated, peering out as well before readjusting his hood and heading out into the rain with Nyma in tow. A face pressed closer and he could feel a small body shivering against him. Apparently he weren’t built for this kind of weather, what a shock. 

They didn’t have any problems until they got to the docks where more of those same people were hanging out. Rolo couldn’t help but think that was way to many for one measly kid. Keeping an eye out, they made their way as casually and stealthily to their ship as possible. They finally breathed a sigh of relief as soon as they stepped on board. “They aren’t going to try and stop us?” Rolo had almost forgotten about the burden he had been carrying, mind more on not getting caught. 

“Nah this ship is registered as a cargo ship for the Empire. We can go wherever we want. Now if they had seen us gettin’ in it, that would be a different story.” 

As soon as the words were out of his mouth the small body tensed against him. “You’re with the Empire?” 

Rolo rolled his eyes and practically dropped the boy, earning a startled yelp in the process as the kid got tangled in his own cloak. “If I was, I wouldn’t have carried your water logged butt this whole way. There were plenty of nice people out there just waitin’ to take you off my hands.” He said, pulling off his own cloak and hanging it up before heading for the cockpit, Nyma already ahead of him. “Better take yours off too. I don’t need whatever foreign germs you might have affecting us if you get sick.” Rolo said, flopping down in the chair and taking over for Beezer. They needed to get out of here before even thinking of cleaning up which he knew they were all dying to do. His companion could grumble all she wanted but she wasn’t the one that had to carry a wet and muddy kid around either.

They had just left Varden’s atmosphere when he heard their guest finally decide to join them. “Um do you happen to have something I can use to get cleaned up with? Sort of cold and...gross.” The soft voice asked, earning a chuckle from Rolo. 

“That’s what you get for fallin’. I can show you where it is.”

“Hey ladies first!” Nyma protested, shooting Rolo an annoyed look which he ignored. 

“Like we have any of those on this ship. Besides next checkpoint ain’t for another several varga. Beezer can handle this.” Rolo turned around, smile turning into a frown as he got his first good look at their new charge. Something about the look on his face caught Nyma’s attention and she turned as well, swearing under her breath. 

He had been right about their guest being a kid but he hadn’t expected a human kid with an all to familiar face staring back at him. If Rolo hadn’t already heard him speak, he might have wondered if they were the same person but no this obviously wasn’t one of the Paladins of Voltron. That wasn’t what had the both of them on edge, no the ragged purple and black outfit that clung to a too skinny and shaking frame was a big red flag. 

(He’s an Empire prisoner.) Nyma said, switching her translator off. (She wants us to smuggle an Empire prisoner.) 

(Which would explain our new friends.) Rolo stated. 

(And not just any prisoner. Look at him, he has to be related to Voltron somehow. There wouldn’t be so many after him if he wasn’t important. We should drop him off on the nearest planet and be done with it. This is trouble that we don’t need.) She continued heatedly. 

“Sorry did I do something wrong?” They both looked at the boy who had wrapped arms around himself in a vain attempted at warmth and comfort. Shaking his head, Rolo stood up. 

“Nope, it’s cool. I’ll show you where to go so you can stop tracking mud everywhere.” Nyma scoffed and stood as well. 

(Eventually our luck is going to run out. He’s not worth it.) She said, practically storming out of the cockpit. The kid had been quick to get out of her way, staring at the door she left through. 

“Cool huh?” 

“Yup. Now stop asking questions and follow me.” 

Leading the boy through the ship, his companion was a little slower than he would have liked. That mostly had to do with the way he kept looking around in wonder at all the stuff they passed. Rolo didn’t think it was that interesting, the same typical stuff most ships had. Any modifications he had made over time were hidden and not completely legal. Then again nothing he did was ever completely legal. Stopping, he pointed at a door on the left. “That’s Nyma’s room. I would suggest you do not go in there for any reason. Fair warning.” Walking again, they went down another hallway before he pointed at a door. “That’s my room. For now you can have...” He thought about it before stopping again. “This one.” Pushing the button, the door slid open with a soft hiss. “Nothin’ fancy but probably better than what you had.” He said as the kid walked in, turning in circles as he looked around. “Get cleaned up, I’ll see if I can find something else for you to wear.” 

“Thanks! Um..”

“Rolo. My name’s Rolo.” he said, watching as a smile finally appeared. 

“I’m Matt. Thanks Rolo.” Such genuine cheerfulness just seemed so out of place with things the way they were. This kid had no doubt been through a lot and yet something as simple as this could make him smile. He wasn’t going to last long out here, Rolo decided as he rubbed the back of his head. 

“Yeah no problem. I’ll leave whatever I find on the bed.” With that he left the kid on his own to figure it out while he went down to the cargo hold to dig through his stash. What did humans even wear? The Paladins had some kind of uniforms on so that didn’t help. Not wanting to think to much on it, he grabbed a bunch of stuff. Matt seemed pretty close to an Unilu in shape, that was was probably good enough right? Dropping it off as promised, he could hear the sound of running water coming from the adjacent room and someone moving around. “Brought you stuff. If you need somethin’ else I’ll be in my room for a bit or the cockpit.” 

“Cool thanks!” a voice called out and Rolo bit back a sigh. This kid was too much. Maybe Nyma was right after all. Shaking it off, he went back to his own room to finally get cleaned up. He made a face at the sound boots made as they came off. Moving his leg carefully he could feel the difference in the prosthetic, no doubt clogged with mud from when the foot had sank after he grabbed Matt. Just another thing on a long list of things he was not going to let bother him. Instead he washed himself off, dropped his clothes into the laundry tube and pulled on some new ones before sitting at the desk. 

It was messy with various tools and parts on and around it with just enough of an empty space for him to work. Carefully removing the leg, he pulled a light closer, switching it on before assessing the damage. The outside had been cleared of mud but as he started to take it apart, his concerns were proven correct. The slimy mud really did know how to get everywhere. Grumbling to himself he set to work, rolling himself around as needed. When he checked the time, a couple of varga had passed but at least it was finished and he was more aware of how tired he was. Leaving the prosthetic on the table, he rolled himself over to the bed, making a deep noise of appreciation as he laid down, putting hands behind his head. He must have dozed off, woken up by the sound of his door opening. (Finally cool down and get your head on straight?)

“What?” 

Opening his eyes, the person in the doorway was most certainly not Nyma as he had anticipated. Instead it was the kid again wearing some of the clothing he had picked out. “What are you doing in here? Figured you’d be takin’ a nap after all this.” Matt moved far enough in the room for the door to shut behind him, fingers playing anxiously with the long sleeves of the shirt he had chosen. It took Rolo a moment to realized Matt had tied the second pair back. Matt must have picked up on what he was looking at because he started fidgeting more. “There was an extra pair of sleeves and I didn’t want them to get in the way so this is the solution I came up with. I did try to sleep but I couldn’t. Every time I do I just have nightmares.” 

After everything that had happened, Rolo should have guessed that would be the case. It wasn’t uncommon for sleep to be elusive. Even for him, though he didn’t need much sleep to begin with. Generally enough booze fixed that problem but sometimes that was a luxury they couldn’t afford. Focusing on the kid again, he realized that eyes were now fixed on his leg or rather where it should have been. “It needed a little maintenance after all that runnin’ around we did. Was too lazy to put it back on.” He had lost it too long ago to be hung up on it though it was amusing the way the kid got all shy again. 

“I didn’t mean to- I’m sorry.” 

Rolo shrugged. “Don’t be, doesn’t bother me. Things like this happen.” He wasn’t prepared for the sad look that came across Matt’s face. 

“It shouldn’t though.” 

“Maybe but it’s how it’s always been and always will be.” Loss was just a reality of the Galra Empire. Everyone knew that. Those that hadn’t lost anything would soon enough. 

“It won’t be. Te-osh said there are people fighting against them and not just the rebels.” Rolo sucked in air through his teeth. Voltron had seemed so certain too but they had been less than impressive. Enough to beat a couple of low level bounty hunters who had gotten to cocky but not the entire Empire. Matt seemed pretty confident that he was right and as easy as it would be to prove him wrong, Rolo let it go. It wasn’t worth the fight or the headache, at least that’s what he told himself. Moving an arm from behind his head, he held it out to Matt. 

“Come ‘er kid. Before you fall asleep standing up.” Matt hesitated, obviously weighing his options before deciding to accept it. Maybe it should have seemed odd at how he curled up so easily against Rolo but considering he was a prisoner not so long ago, the comfort of another person had to have been scarce. It was obvious he didn’t want to be alone. “You seem pretty confident in all that.” Matt nodded. 

“I am and I’m not a kid. I’m seventeen.” 

“What’s that suppose to mean?” Matt huffed. 

“It means I’m practically an adult by human standards.” Rolo hummed thoughtfully. 

“Well I can’t prove you wrong so we’ll go with that. Kinda small though.” He grinned at the pout on the boy’s face. 

“As if you have anything to compare it to. Besides puberty generally happens between 10 and 16 for guys. I’m just a late bloomer, probably because of all the trauma. I’ll hit a growth spurt soon.” It was a bit of a surprise how easily Matt could say all that so matter-of-fact. 

“You got me there. Now go to sleep.” The big yawn was more than enough proof Matt needed it, and he curled up a little closer. 

“Okay.” The room fell silent again and Rolo was convinced Matt had fallen asleep before his voice filled the room again. “Hey Rolo?”

“What?”

“Thank you.” Rolo fought off a smile at the word. 

“Go to sleep Matt.” A small nod was all he got before breathing slowed and evened out as Matt finally stopped fighting sleep. He sighed softly. The kid was giving him too much credit.


End file.
